The surprising case of Ludogorets

Last update 4 September, 2014 por Alberto Llopis

Spanish fans probably hadn't heard of this team until the season 2013/14 , when the modest Bulgarian team, managed to eliminate Lazio from Rome and faced Valencia in the Europa League. Muchos, They even got to know this peculiar team when their defender Cosmin Moti, He put them in the Champions League group stage after occupying the goal after the expulsion of their goalkeeper and stopping two penalties in the decisive shootout against a historic European, he Steaua Bucarest. A group, where he will play nothing more and nothing less than against Florentino Pérez's new galactic Real Madrid.

Con una población de unos 32.000 habitantes, the small town of Razgrad located in the Ludogorie region, can boast of being an elite team. In Spain, His success could be compared to that of Villarreal, with a similar population and that not long ago, He touched the glory of a Champions League final that escaped with a penalty from Juan Román Riquelme that ended in the stands. But the history of Ludogorets has more to it, en 2009 They played in the Bulgarian third, which could be something like the Second Spanish Regional or even worse if we equate the levels.

Entre 2009 y 2014, His rise has been spectacular.. En 2012, They debuted in the top category of Bulgaria and in the 2013/14, They eliminated teams like Lazio from Rome, whom they were able to knock down on a stage as grand as the Olympic Stadium in Rome.. How can it be that a team from a small, almost lost town in Bulgaria ends up playing in the Champions League?, above all a Real Madrid?, Well possibly the miracle begins with a name.

Wing Domuschiev, the president of the most powerful pharmaceutical company in Bulgaria, decided on 2010 open a plant for biotechnological products in Razgrad and incidentally, get the team and invest in it. Neither short nor lazy, during the following years, they took over the Bulgarian League, the Cup and the Super Cup. Como se imaginarán, The team is a true UN with players from all over where a Spaniard could not be missing, the former Celta player among others, Dani Abalo.

The small Ludogorets Arena of just 6000 Spectators are already waiting for the millionaire cards from Florentino Pérez's umpteenth galactic project. Although last year they had to play their matches in Sofia due to the lack of a UEFA license for the small stadium., the Cristiano Ronaldo, James, Kroos, Benzema, Bale, Ramos and company, They will undoubtedly have to fight their way under the watchful eye of a population that will focus on the game. A peculiar situation that can only occur in sport, sobretodo en el fútbol.